Palletized container bottom construction

ABSTRACT

An improved palletized container construction, characterized by the provision of overlapping interlocked bottom flaps to which are secured support blocks for supporting the container in an elevated position relative to a fixed surface. More particularly, a first side bottom flap is slotted at its free extremity to define a center interlocking portion contained between a pair of outer interlocking portions. The center interlocking portion carries at least one support block that is arranged for longitudinal alignment with corresponding support blocks carried by the other side bottom wall adjacent its free corner portions. Additional rows of support blocks are carried by said side bottom flaps adjacent and parallel with their hinge lines.

United States Patent Cook [54] PALLETIZED CONTAINER BOTTOM CONSTRUCTION [72] Inventor: Charles F. Cook, Boise, Idaho [73] Assignee: Boise Cascade Corporation, Boise,

Idaho [22] Filed: June 2, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 149,201

[52] U.S. Cl. ..229/37, 206/46 FC, 108/51, 108/56. 229/14 C [51] Int. Cl. ..B65d 5/02, 865d 19/20 [58] Field of Search.....108/51, 56; 229/14 C, 37, 39; 206/46 FCM [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,503,240 4/1950 Cahmers ..108/56 2,841,350 7/1958 Chronister ..108/56 2,914,282 11/1959 Budd ..108/56 3,275,131 9/1966 Erickson ..206/46 FC 5/1969 De Simas ..229/14 C III 1970 Blasdell ..229/39 R Primary Examiner-Davis T. Moorhead Attorney-Lawrence E. Luabscher [57] ABSTRACT An improved palletized container construction, characterized by the provision of overlapping interlocked bottom flaps to which are secured support blocks for supporting the container in an elevated position relative to a fixed surface. More particularly, a first side bottom flap is slotted at its free extremity to define a center interlocking portion contained between a pair of outer interlocking portions. The center interlocking portion carries at least one support block that is arranged for longitudinal alignment with corresponding support blocks carried by the other side bottom wall adjacent its free corner portions. Additional rows of support blocks are carried by said side bottom flaps adjacent and parallel with their hinge lines.

8 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PALLETIZED CONTAINER BOTTOM CONSTRUCTION This invention relates generally to an improved bottom construction for palletized containers.

It is well known in the patented prior art to provide containers of the type including a carton formed of corrugated cardboard, corrugated fiberboard or the like that is provided with supporting feet for elevating the container relative to a fixed support surface. Examples of such containers are disclosed in the prior U.S. Pats. to Cahners No. 2,503,240, Chronister U.S. Pat. No. 2,841,350 and Budd U.S. Pat. No. 2,914,282, among others. Moreover,.as evidenced by the Grant et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,430,585, it has been proposed to secure a plurality of supporting foot components to the bottom wall of the carton. The use of light-weight synthetic foam components in the palletized container art is broadly taught by the U.S. Pats. to Sullivan No. 3,380,403, Erickson U.S. Pat. No. 3,275,131 and De Simas U.S. Pat. No. 3,442,434. Finally, the use of interlocking flaps for closing the bottom of a carton is well known in the art, as evidenced, for example, by the Mezzano U.S. Pat. No. 3,398,703.

It has been found that there is a need in the art for a light-weight palletized container that not only is strong and durable in use, but also is readily collapsible to a fiat condition for storage and subsequent reuse. A major problem in such containers is the fastening together of the bottom fiaps to effect a strong bottom closure for the container, which problem is further aggrevated when a plurality of support feet are provided on said bottom flap for supporting the carton in an elevated condition.

Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a palletized container of the collapsible knockdown type including a pair of interlocking bottom flaps each of which carries a plurality of permanently attached support feet. In accordance with a characterizing feature of the invention, first and second sets of support feet are carried by the interlocking bottom flaps adjacent their hinged connections with the corresponding side walls, respectively, and additional support feet carried by the interlocking portions of the bottom flaps define a third set of feet intermediate said first and second set of feet. In the preferred embodiment, the sets of support feet define three parallel longitudinal rows, the feet in each row being further spaced and arranged to define transverse rows that afford four-say access for a fork lift truck.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a palletized container interlocking bottom construction wherein the opposed two side bottom flaps overlap, a first one of said flaps being provided at its free extremity with a pair of spaced slots that define a central interlocking portion contained between a pair of outer interlocking portions. At least one support foot is permanently secured to said central interlocking portion, and corresponding support feet are permanently secured adjacent the free corner portions of the other side wall bottom flap. Consequently, when the side bottom flaps are folded to horizintal interlocking positions, the support feet carried by the interlocking portions are in alignment, thereby strengthening the connection between the interlocking portions of the bottom flaps when material is inserted within the carton.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification when considered in the light of the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the foldable blank from which the palletized container is formed; and

FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the assembled palletized container.

Referring first to FIG. 1, the foldable blank, which is preferably formed of cardboard, fiberboard, paperboard or the like, includes, in hingedly connected succession,,a first end wall 2, a first side wall 4, a second end wall 6, a second end wall 8, and a fastening tab 10. Hingedly connected with the bottom edges of the walls 2, 4, 6, and 8 are a first end bottom flap 12, a first side bottom flap 14, a second end bottom flap l6, and a second side bottom flap 18, respectively. At its lower extremity, the first side bottom flap 14 contains a pair of vertical slots 20 that define a central interlocking portion 14a contained between a pair of outer interlocking portions 14b. The vertical dimension of the bottom flaps is greater than one half the width of the end walls, thereby effecting an overlap of the side bottom flaps l4 and 18, as will be described below. In the illustrated embodiment, the vertical slots 20 extend approximately one-half the height of the bottom flap 14, said slots being so arranged that the widths of the flap portions and 14b are substantially equal.

In accordance with an important feature of the invention, a horizontal row of first equally spaced support blocks 24 is secured to the first side bottom flap 14 adjacent the hinge connection thereof with the side wall 4. A horizontal row of equally spaced second support blocks 26 is secured to the second side bottom wall 18. A third support block 28 is secured to the interlocking flap portion 14a of bottom flap 14, and a pair of fourth support blocks 30 are secured to the lowermost portion of side bottom flap 18 adjacent the vertical edges thereof, the spacing distance between said fourth support blocks being greater than the width of the central interlocking flap portion 14a. Preferably the support blocks are of identical size and are formed of a strong, light-weight synthetic plastic material (such as expanded polystyrene, urethane foam or the like), but it is apparent that other materials, such as wood, could be used equally as well. The support blocks are secured to the bottom flaps by means of an adhesive or by conventional fastener means.

To assemble the palletized container, the side walls are folded to define a rectangular configuration and the fastening tab 10 is permanently secured (by stapling, adhesive bond, tape or the like) to the end wall 2. The end bottom flaps 12 and 15 are folded to horizontal positions, whereupon the side bottom flaps are simultaneously folded toward horizontal positions in such a manner that the interlocking portions 140 and 14b of the side bottom flap 14 extend below and above the side bottom flap 18, respectively. Preferably the support blocks 28 and 30 are so arranged that when the palletized container is in the assembled condition, they are aligned to define a row intermediate and parallel with the outer rows of first and second blocks 24 and 26, respectively. Furthermore, corresponding blocks of the three rows are also aligned, thereby permitting the palletized container to be engaged in a four-way manner by a fork lift truck arranged longitudinally or transversely of the carton. It should be mentioned here that, if desired, the palletized container blank may be provided with the conventional top flaps 34, as shown in phantom. Normally the bottom flaps are maintained in the assembled condition purely by the interlocking effect between the side bottom flaps, thereby permitting knock-down disassembly for collapsible storage and reuse. Moreover, when material is inserted within the carton, its weight will further assist in maintaining the side bottom flaps in interlocking relationship. Of course, in the case of a carton that is to be permanently assembled, the bottom flaps may be secured together by an adhesive or the like.

While in accordance with the provisions of the Patent Statutes the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without deviating from the inventive concepts set forth above.

What is claimed is:

l. A palletized container, comprising a vertically arranged foldable blank including a succession of vertical walls hingedly connected at their vertical edges, said blank being foldable to an operative condition in which said walls define an open-ended container chamber, at least one pair of said walls being opposed and parallel when said blank is in the operative condition, said blank also including a first pair of bottom flaps (l4, l8) hingedly connected with the bottom edges of said one pair of walls, the sum of the vertical dimensions of said bottom flaps normal to the hingelines thereof being greater than the spacing distance between said one pair of walls, one of said bottom flaps (14) containing at its lower edge a pair of horizontally spaced vertical slots arranged to define a central interlocking portion (14a) contained between a pair of outer interlocking portions a plurality of first support elements (24) secured to said first bottom flap adjacent the hinge line thereof;

aplurality of second support elements (26) secured to said second bottom flap adjacent the hinge line thereof;

at least one third support element (28) secured to said central interlocking portion of said first bottom flap; and

a pair of spaced fourth support elements (30) secured to the bottom corner portions of said second bottom flap, the spacing distance between said fourth support elements being at least as great as the width of said central interlocking portion;

each of said support elements having the same thickness and being arranged on the same side of said blank, said bottom flaps being foldable toward overlapping horizontal positions in which the central and outer interlocking portions of said first bottom flap are below and above the adjacent edge portion of said second bottom flap, respectively, and in which said support elements extend downwardly from said bottom flaps for supporting e a e entwithafi ed horiz n als r ace. 2. K gali container as efine in claim 1,

Med wherein said pair of slots are so arranged that said central and outer interlocking portions have generally the same width.

3. A palletized container as defined in claim 2, wherein said third and fourth support elements are so connected with their respective flaps as to effect alignment of said elements in a row extending longitudinally of the container when said bottom flaps are foldedto said horizontal positions.

4. A palletized container as defined in claim 3, wherein said support elements are also arranged in rows extending transversely of the container when said bottom flaps are folded to said horizontal positions.

5. A palletized container as defined in claim 1, wherein said support elements are connected with their respective bottom flaps in such a manner that when said bottom flaps are folded toward their horizontal positions, said support elements are arranged in spaced rows extending both longitudinally and transversely of the container, thereby affording four-way access for a fork lift truck.

6. A palletized container as defined in claim 1, and further including tab means secured to at least one of said walls for permanently securing together the free vertical edges of the first and last ones of said hingedly connected succession of walls.

7. A palletized container as defined in claim 1, wherein said blank includes four of said walls for defining a rectangular container, said first pair of opposed walls being the side walls of said container, and further including end bottom flaps (l2, l6) hingedly connected with the bottom edges of the end walls of said container, said end bottom flaps being foldable to horizontal positions above said first pair of bottom flaps, thereby to effect complete sealing of the bottom of the container.

8. A palletized container as defined in claim 7, wherein said bottom flaps are each in a vertical orientation, said container may be collapsed to a condition in which one of each of said side and end walls are contained in one plane, and the remaining side and end walls are contained in an adjacent parallel plane. 

1. A palletized container, comprising a vertically arranged foldable blank including a succession of vertical walls hingedly connected at their vertical edges, said blank being foldable to an operative condition in which said walls define an open-ended container chamber, at least one pair of said walls being opposed and parallel when said blank is in the operative condition, said blank also including a first pair of bottom flaps (14, 18) hingedly connected with the bottom edges of said one pair of walls, the sum of the vertical dimensions of said bottom flaps normal to the hinge lines thereof being greater than the spacing distance between said one pair of walls, one of said bottom flaps (14) containing at its lower edge a pair of horizontally spaced vertical slots (20) arranged to define a central interlocking portion (14a) contained between a pair of outer interlocking portions (14b); a plurality of first support elements (24) secured to said first bottom flap adjacent the hinge line thereof; a plurality of second support elements (26) secured to said second bottom flap adjacent the hinge line thereof; at least one third support element (28) secured to said central interlocking portion of said first bottom flap; and a pair of spaced fourth support elements (30) secured to the bottom corner portions of said second bottom flap, the spacing distance between said fourth support elements being at least as great as the width of said central interlocking portion; each of said support elements having the same thickness and being arranged on the same side of said blank, said bottom flaps being foldable toward overlapping horizontal positions in which the central and outer interlocking portions of said first bottom flap are below and above the adjacent edge portion of said second bottom flap, respectively, and in which said support elements extend downwardly from said bottom flaps for supporting engagement with a fixed horizontal surface.
 2. A palletized container as defined in claim 1, wherein said pair of slots are so arranged that said central and outer interlocking portions have generally the same width.
 3. A palletized container as defined in claim 2, wherein said third and fourth support elements are so connected with their respective flaps as to effect alignment of said elements in a row extending longitudinally of the container when said bottom flaps are folded to said horizontal positions.
 4. A palletized container as defined in claim 3, wherein said support elements are also arranged in rows extending transversely of the container when said bottom flaps are folded to said horizontal positions.
 5. A paLletized container as defined in claim 1, wherein said support elements are connected with their respective bottom flaps in such a manner that when said bottom flaps are folded toward their horizontal positions, said support elements are arranged in spaced rows extending both longitudinally and transversely of the container, thereby affording four-way access for a fork lift truck.
 6. A palletized container as defined in claim 1, and further including tab means secured to at least one of said walls for permanently securing together the free vertical edges of the first and last ones of said hingedly connected succession of walls.
 7. A palletized container as defined in claim 1, wherein said blank includes four of said walls for defining a rectangular container, said first pair of opposed walls being the side walls of said container, and further including end bottom flaps (12, 16) hingedly connected with the bottom edges of the end walls of said container, said end bottom flaps being foldable to horizontal positions above said first pair of bottom flaps, thereby to effect complete sealing of the bottom of the container.
 8. A palletized container as defined in claim 7, wherein said bottom flaps are each in a vertical orientation, said container may be collapsed to a condition in which one of each of said side and end walls are contained in one plane, and the remaining side and end walls are contained in an adjacent parallel plane. 